What are mistakes product managers make when trying to get buy in for their roadmap that end up damaging stakeholder relationships?

Here are some of the common mistakes I've seen (and done!) PMs make that results in not getting buy-in for your roadmap Not aligning on the outcome explicitly - What is the outcome (Revenue?, better customer experience?, Faster time to market?) your are driving with your roadmap and is that clear to your stakeholder? Is your stakeholder aligned on this outcome? If they are not, then the buy-in for your roadmap means nothing because there will be misalignments on many decisions you will need to m ...Read More

It seems all too easy to NOT get roadmap buy-in. Sometimes, it can feel like the default answer is always "No" at first, and despite all the work you have done, you are getting sent back to the drawing board. Some things that help, not in any particular order: Go as wide as possible early on as pre-work to understand stakeholders' motivations and identify any possible opposition Dig deep to identify the true source of the opposition. Listen a lot, ask questions. Treat this exercise as part of re ...Read More

The biggest mistake I will mention here is not getting stakeholder buy-in. A lot of times we make assumptions about what people want and do not take the time ahead of to understand needs. Speak to those needs and share any constraints. Work to bring alignment across stakeholders. In the end, stakeholders lose trust in the product manager because they do not feel seen or heard. It is important that pre-work is done ahead of time so that when roadmaps are being presented, nothing comes as a surpri ...Read More

From personal experience, I've made a couple mistakes that I can share: Not doing enough research or having answers to pushback readily available (this makes you look weak and degrades trust in your recommendation or ownership). Pushing an objective without understanding the other perspectives or priorities of stakeholders (this makes you look unprepared and degrades trust and collaboration). Ways to mitigate these: Spend your time to prepare your roadmap with lots of research (customer, prospec ...Read More

I have noticed that PMs who do not have a solid proposal or data backed research, they try to push through their roadmap by backing it based on the buy in from upper management or who proposed it, instead of justifying and backing it up based on the impact of the outcome. If the stakeholders are not convinced of the impact of the outcome, and you are pushing it across then it will make them sulk. The best way to influence and convince your stakeholders on your roadmap is to use hard numbers for ...Read More

It's crucial to ensure you’ve identified and engaged with stakeholders (including your own engineering team) correctly, to mitigate the risk of damaging relationships. Here are some common mistakes I’ve seen that can create friction with your stakeholders: Failure to have a clear vision or strategy.  Understanding the destination and how you’re going to get there is key to prioritizing your roadmap and helping explain why behind those priorities. Poor Communication. A lack of communication is as ...Read More

Not Understanding and/or Aligning OKRs If you are operating against different and even competing OKRs then your roadmap will never get buy in. This issue creates the conditions where no matter what you have on there, there will not be alignment because everyone is chasing a different outcome. This is why OKR creation with stakeholders is critical - everyone needs to be bought into the direction before you can cuss and discuss the details and the how to get there Not Framing the Story with Data Y ...Read More